Almanac

News - November 14, 2012

Menlo Park voters OK hike in hotel tax to 12%

The fate of Measure K, the city of Menlo Park's proposal to raise the hotel tax from 10 percent to 12 percent, was easier to call than the council race — the yes votes remained about 73.63 percent of the total from start to finish.

Otherwise known as the transient occupancy tax (TOT), the new rate will match that of Redwood City, East Palo Alto and Palo Alto, while adding approximately $600,000 in revenue for Menlo Park annually.

According to city officials, the revenue boost will help maintain city services such as code enforcement and infrastructure maintenance — services that used to receive funding from the redevelopment agency, which the state dissolved earlier this year.